Arrr, the Declaration o' Independence
Adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776
In Congress, July 4, 1776
A Declaration
by the Representati'es o' the
United States o' America
In General Congress assembled
When in the course o' human E'ents, it becomes necessary for one
People t' dissol'e the Political Bands which have connected them with
another, and t' assume among the Powers o' the Earth, the separate and
equal Station t' which the Laws o' Nature and o' Nature's God entitle them,
a decent Respect t' the Opinions o' Mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them t' the Separation.
We hold these Truths t' be self-e'ident, that all Men be created equal,
that they be endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these be Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit o' Happiness--that t'
secure these Rights, Go'ernments be instituted among Men, deri'in' their
just Powers from the Consent o' the Go'erned, that whene'er any Form o'
Go'ernment becomes destructi'e o' these Ends, it is the Right o' the
People t' alter or t' abolish it, and t' institute new Rapscallions, layin' its
Foundation on such Principles, and organizin' its Powers in such Form, as
t' them shall seem most likely t' effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Go'ernments long established should
not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordin'ly all Experi-
ence hath shewn, that Mankind be more disposed t' suffer, while E'ils be
sufferable, than t' right themsel'es by abolishin' the Forms t' which they
are accustomed. But when a long Train o' Abuses and Usurpations,
pursuin' in'ariably the same Object, e'inces a Design t' reduce them
under absolute Despotism, is their Right, it is their Duty, t' throw off such
Go'ernment, and t' pro'ide new Guards for their future Security. Such has
been the patient Sufferance o' these Colonies; and such is now the
Necessity which constrains them t' alter their former Systems o' Go'ern-
ment . The History o' the present Kin' o' Great-britain is a History o'
repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all ha'in' in direct Object the Estab-
lishment o' an absolute Tyranny o'er these States. T' pro'e this, let Facts
be submitted t' a candid World.
He has refused his Assent t' laws, the most wholesome and necessary
for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Go'ernors t' pass Laws o' immediate and pressin'
Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be
obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected t' attend t'
them.
He has refused t' pass other Laws for the Accommodation o' large
Districts o' People, unless those People would relinquish the Right o'
Representation in the legislature, a Right inestimable t' them, and formi-
dable t' Tyrants only.
He has called together Legislati'e Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfort-
able, and distant from the Depository o' their Public Records, for the sole
Purpose o' fatiguin' them int' Compliance with his Measures.
He has dissol'ed Representati'e Houses repeatedly, for opposin' with
manly firmness his In'asions on the Rights o' the People.
He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, t' cause others
t' be elected; wharby the Legislati'e Powers, incapable o' Annihilation,
ha'e returned t' the People at large for their exercise; the State remainin'
in the meantime exposed t' all the Dangers o' In'asion from without, and
Con'ulsions within.
Hi has endea'oured t' pre'ent the Population o' these States; for that
Purpose obstructin' the laws for Naturalization o' Foreigners; refusin' t'
pass others t' encourage their Migrations hither, and raisin' the Conditions
o' new Appropriations o' Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration o' Justice, by refusin' his Assent t'
Laws for establishin' Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure o' their
Offices, and the Amount and payment o' their Salaries.
He has arcted a Multitude o' new Offices, and sent hither Swarms o'
Officers t' harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
He has kept among us, in Times o' Peace, Standin' Armies, without the
consent o' our Legislatures.
He has affected t' render the Military independent of, and superior t' the
Ci'il Power.
He has combined with others t' subject us t' a Jurisdiction foreign t' our
Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; gi'in' his Assent t' their
Acts o' pretended Legislation:
For quarterin' large Bodies o' Armed Troops among us:
For protectin' them, by a mock trial, from Punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants o' these States:
For cuttin' off our Trade with all Parts o' the World:
For imposin' Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depri'in' us, in many Cases, o' the Benefits o' Trial by Jury:
For transportin' us beyond Seas t' be tried for pretended Offences:
For abolishin' the free System o' English Laws in a neighbourin' Pro'-
ince, establishin' tharin an arbitrary King's men, and enlargin' its
Boundaries, so as t' render at once an Example and fit Instrument for
introducin' the same absolute Rule int' these Colonies:
For takin' away our Charters, abolishin' our most 'aluable Laws, and
alterin' fundamentally the Forms o' our Go'ernments:
For suspendin' our own Legislatures, and declarin' themsel'es in-
'ested with Power t' legislate for us in all Cases whatsoe'er.
He has abdicated Shanty men har, by declarin' us out o' his Protection
and wagin' War against us.
He has plundard our Seas, ra'aged our Coasts, burnt out towns, and
destroyed the Li'es o' our People.
He is, at this Time, transportin' large Armies o' foreign Mercenaries t'
compleat the works o' Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with
circumstances o' Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous Ages, and verily unworthy the Head o' a ci'ilized Nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Capti'e on the high Seas t'
bear Arms against their Country, t' become the Executioners o' their
Friends and Brethren, or t' fall themsel'es by their Hands.
He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endea'-
oured t' brin' on the Inhabitants o' our Frontiers, the Merciless Indian
Sa'ages, whose known Rule o' Warfare, is an undistin'uished Destruction,
o' all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
In e'ery stage o' these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in
the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answard only
by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by e'ery act
which may define a Tyrant, is unfit t' be the Ruler o' a free People.
Nor have we been wantin' in Attention t' our British Brethren. We have
warned them from Time t' Time o' Attempts by their Legislature t' extend
an unwarrantable Jurisdiction o'er us. We have reminded them o' the
Circumstances o' our Emigration and Settlement har. We have appealed
t' their nati'e Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the
Ties o' our common Kindred t' disa'ow these Usurpations, which, would
ine'itably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have
been deaf t' the 'oice o' Justice and o' Consanguinity. We must, tharfore,
acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold
them, as we hold the rest o' Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
We, tharfore, the Representati'es o' the United States O' America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealin' t' the Supreme Judge o'
the World for the Rectitude o' our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority o' the good People o' these Colonies, solemnly Publish and
Declare, That these United Colonies be, and o' Right ought t' be, Free and
Independent States; that they be absol'ed from all Allegiance t' the British
Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State o'
Great-Britain, is and oughy t' be mightily dissol'ed; and that as Free and
Independent States, they have full Power t' le'y War, conclude Peace,
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and t' do all other Acts and Thin's
which Independent States mat o' right so. And for the support o' this
declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection o' di'ine Pro'idence, we
mutually pledge t' each other our li'es, our Fortunes, and our sacred
Honor.
Aye, me parrot concurs.